pyxidium

American  

[pik-sid-ee-uhm] / pɪkˈsɪd i əm /

noun

Botany.

plural

pyxidia

1. a seed vessel that opens transversely, the top part acting as a lid, as in the purslane.

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pyxidium British  

/ pɪkˈsɪdɪəm, ˈpɪksɪs /

noun

1. the dry fruit of such plants as the plantain: a capsule whose upper part falls off when mature so that the seeds are released

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Etymology

Origin of pyxidium

1825–35; < New Latin < Greek pyxídion a little box, equivalent to pyxid- (stem of pyxís ) a box + -ion diminutive noun suffix

Example Sentences

Pyxis, Pyxidium, a pod opening round horizontally by a lid, 124.

From Project Gutenberg

The capsule of gold-beater's skin, in which the grubs of the Cione are enclosed, divides itself, at the moment of liberation, into two hemispheres "of a regularity so perfect that they recall exactly the bursting of the pyxidium when the seed is distributed."

From Project Gutenberg